For students who want to be in a business development role, a product manager role, or a general manager role and drive growth through innovation and new product creation at an existing firm, CEI’s Corporate Innovation programming can help you hone the skills you will need to excel as an innovator inside a larger organization. Provided below is a list of courses and activities that are particularly relevant for a career driving corporate innovation; however, individuals should leverage the flexibly of the curriculum to craft the mix of courses and experiences that best complement and expand their existing skillset to catapult them toward their personal career objectives.
Learn the concepts through our comprehensive course offerings
Foundational Case-based Courses
- Strategy 838 Entrepreneurship Strategy – Spring 1
- Strategy 845 Entrepreneurial Execution – Spring 2
- Finance 646 Corporate Finance – Fall 2/Spring 1
- Management 738 Managing Innovation in a Global Organization – Fall 1
- Management 747 Leadership – Spring 1
- Marketing 802 Marketing of Innovations – Fall 2
Foundational Experiential-learning and Project-based Courses
- Strategy 848 New Ventures: Discovery – Fall 1+Fall 2 / Spring 1+Spring 2. Want to know where good ideas come from? New Ventures: Discovery is designed to lead you to a eureka moment by teaching you how to explore the world around you for problems worth solving. By the end of the course you will have identified more than a hundred problems and opportunities and will have gotten feedback from users about whether you are on the right track.
- Strategy 849/850 New Ventures: Development – Fall 1+Fall 2 / Spring 1+ Spring 2. Have an idea for a problem you want to solve or want to design a business model around somoene else’s problem? New Ventures: Development will lead you through the process of understanding whether an idea has teeth and if it is a business worth doing. You will learn to asssess opportunities, develop and test business models, understand your financials, and build a successful team.
- Strategy 895 Fuqua Client Consulting Practicum (FCCP) x CEI. Through the FCCP program, you can work with an early-stage startup on project of strategic importance to the venture. The organizations and projects vary year to year.
Case-based Courses to Round out your skills
- Finance xyz Raising Capital and Financial Technologies – Spring 1
- Management 745 Negotiations – Fall 1/Spring 1/Spring 2
- Management 748 Human Assets – Spring 1
- Marketing 738 Consumer Behavior – Fall 1
- Marketing 796 Market Research – Spring 1
Industry Specific Courses
- Hlthmgmt 712 Medical Device Strategy – Fall 1
Hone Your Skills through Co-curricular Activities
Programs and Events
- Corporate Design Lab – This four-hour workshop pairs students alongside a corporate innovation team working to develop a new product. The session includes the opportunity to hear about a real challenge an organization is facing and creates an opportunity to flex your creative muscles to develop a potential solution.
- Innovation Immersion Trek – Visit the innovation units of local companies to hear first-hand how they are driving business growth through innovation. Through the trek you will have the opportunity to meet innovation leaders, learn about innovation management processes, and be inspired by new ideas emerging from large firms.
- CEI Leadership Speaker Series – CEI hosts an ongoing speaker series that features corporate innovation leaders, entrepreneurs, and funding professionals giving you an opportunity to hear from world-renowed experts.
Student Clubs
- Design & Innovation Club – From innovation methodologies to user-centered research, the Design & Innovation club helps expose you to a breadth of professional opportunities that value the design thinking mindset.
Engage with Experts across Campus and in the Community
Research Triangle Park (RTP) Foundation Events – Home to the innovation arms of hundreds of global companies, RTP is an epicenter of corporate innovation. The RTP Foundation frequently sponsors events, seminars, and breakfast that are of interest to corporate innovators.